The Debate on Diversity in California Shifts

Published: June 4, 1995

(Page 2 of 4)

Few places have had more of a commitment to diversity than the Berkeley campus, rated as perhaps the most prestigious public university in America. Beginning with the admission of women in the 1880's and with an early form of affirmative action called the Educational Opportunity Program in 1964, Berkeley has aggressively promoted inclusion.

The University of California was also the target of the lawsuit in the late 1970's that created the current legal standard for affirmative action; Allan P. Bakke argued that he had been denied admission to the medical school at the University of California at Davis because a space had been reserved for a less-qualified minority student. In a 5-to-4 ruling in 1978, the Supreme Court said that it was permissible to take race into account in admissions so long as there were no quotas and race was not the sole or primary factor.

Affirmative action on a university campus can play out in different ways, from recruiting students to hiring faculty. The most contentious questions at Berkeley have had to do with admissions: Who gets the sought-after acceptances? And what are the best criteria for judging applicants?

The university says that it seeks to enroll a student body that "encompasses the broad diversity of cultural, racial, geographic and socio-economic backgrounds characteristic of California."

It also says there are no admissions quotas, reflecting the decision in the Bakke case.

Berkeley can afford to be choosy; it attracts more applicants with perfect 4.0 high school grade-point averages than it has slots in its freshman class. But as the university has become ever more selective the competition for admission has raised questions about the costs of diversity. Last year the campus received 22,500 freshman applications. It accepted 8,400 students to fill 3,500 freshman slots.

Administrators say affirmative action in admissions has been a success, maintaining educational excellence as Berkeley has become more diverse.

As late as 1984, whites made up 60 percent of the undergraduates at Berkeley. Now, the student body is 39 percent Asian, 32 percent white, 14 percent Hispanic, 6 percent black, 1 percent American Indian and 8 percent other groups or people who did not identify their race.

In 1984, the mean grade-point average for freshmen was 3.62 out of a possible 4.0, and the mean combined score on what are now known as the Scholastic Assessment Tests was 1,155 of a possible 1,600. In 1994, when whites constituted only a third of the undergraduates, the mean grade-point average was 3.84 and the mean S.A.T. score was 1,225.

Those numbers have risen for every ethnic group, according to data released by campus officials. The percentage of students who graduate within six years is also at an all-time high -- 79 percent compared with 55 percent in the mid-1950's.

"There's the myth that in the course of diversifying the campus we've lowered our standards," said Bob Laird, director of undergraduate admissions. "By any measure, the opposite is true. If you divide the freshman class in five parts and you compare any of the quintiles, the current freshman class is stronger than the one 10 years ago."

Moreover, the proportions of so-called underrepresented minorities -- primarily black and Hispanic students -- are not close to their numbers in the population. Black and Hispanic students now constitute about 37 percent of the high school graduates in California but only about 19 percent of the students at Berkeley.

Many black and Hispanic students complain that Berkeley is drawing back from the kind of outreach and openness needed to attract minorities. Black enrollment, which peaked at at 1,647, or 7.7 percent of undergraduates, in 1989, currently stands at 1,127, or 5.5 percent. Hispanic enrollment, which peaked at 3,158, or 15.1 percent of undergraduates, in 1991, is now 2,800, or 13.8 percent.

"What they call affirmative action is mostly just an appeasement, and now they're taking away what's there," said Mireta Khalil, a black 21-year-old junior from Los Angeles.

Under Berkeley's complicated admissions system, about 95 percent of the freshmen admitted come from the top eighth of high school students. Half of the applicants are accepted on academic merit as measured by high school grades. About 45 percent are picked using a combination of academic merit and more subjective factors, including essays, extracurricular activities and whether the student has overcome cultural or economic disadvantages or physical disabilities.

Up to 5 percent are admitted as "special action" admissions. They are not among the top eighth but are admitted because they are athletes, have special talents or fit the university's diversity needs and are deemed to have the ability to succeed at Berkeley. Of this group, 34 percent are black and 38 percent are Hispanic, 10 percent are Asian and 17 percent are white.

Mr. Laird said it made no sense to say that all the other preferences the university uses are acceptable but that increasing racial and ethnic diversity among undergraduates is not.

But critics of affirmative action point out that the policy means that black and Hispanic students with poorer credentials than whites and Asians are being admitted to Berkeley.

Whites admitted as freshmen in 1994 had a mean grade-point average of 3.86. For Asians the figure was 3.95. Blacks averaged 3.43 and Hispanic students averaged 3.65.